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For nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been banned by film censorship or review organizations for political or moral reasons. Censorship standards vary widely by country, and can vary within an individual country over time due to political change or shifting moral attitudes.

Many countries have government-appointed or private commissions to censor and rate productions for film and television exhibition. While it is common for films to be edited to fall into certain rating classifications, this list includes only films that have been explicitly prohibited from public screening.

Banned because (according to Xinhua, the state news agency of the People's Republic of China) 10 minutes of footage containing Chow Yun-fat's portrayal of Singaporean pirate Sao Feng have been trimmed from versions of the film which may be shown in China. Chow is onscreen for 20 minutes in the uncensored theatrical release of the film. No official reason for the censorship was given, but unofficial sources within China have indicated that the character offered a negative and stereotypical portrayal of the Chinese people.[16]

Finnish Board of Film banned the showing of the film in Finland. In 1972 and 1974 Swedish television showed the film, resulting in the Swedish television mast on the Åland Islands being shut down during the movie because Finns were banned from seeing the film. Director of the Finnish Board of Film Jerker Eeriksson said that the banning of the film was political because it harmed the Finnish-Soviet relationship. Finnish television showed the film in 1996 on the TV1 YLE channel[citation needed].

This Laurel & Hardy film, based on the opera of the same name by Michael William Balfe, was banned in Nazi Germany, because the attitude of its depiction of gypsies (in effect, this was a portrayal that approved of them) "had no place" in the Third Reich.[25]

This Nazi propaganda film about the sinking of the RMS Titanic was banned in Nazi Germany by Joseph Goebbels because some of the scenes could demoralize the audience. The Allied Control Council banned the film because of its Nazi propaganda. After the end of the occupation, the German Motion picture rating system classified it to age 12 or older and to age 6 or older with parental guidance. It was sometimes shown on German TV after the war and a censored, low quality VHS copy was released in 1992[citation needed].

Tiergarten AG has noted that several scenes in the movie violate the violence act §131 StGB. Thereby the movie is banned in Germany. Private copies are still legal to own and personal use is not punishable; however any public show of the movie is highly prohibited and punishable act. There is a censored "Keine Jugendfreigabe/ No youth admitted" version, but it has all the violent scenes cut out. Retailing this copy is still legal, since "KJ" rated movies cannot be indexed/banned.[26]

This horror film was banned due to its scenes of graphic violence and lengthy depictions of gang rape. In 2010, the movie was released uncut on DVD and Blu-ray and the ban was renewed by forbidding retailers to sell it.[35]

Played for six weeks before the Nazi past of Gert Fröbe, who played the title villain, was disclosed;[40] it was unbanned after a few months after a man went to the Israeli Embassy in Vienna and told staff that Fröbe hid him and his mother from the Nazis (which may have saved their lives).[41][42]

In this comedy film, the title character Derek Zoolander visits Malaysia which is shown as impoverished and dependent on sweatshops. For this reason, Malaysia's censorship board deemed it "definitely unsuitable".[50]

On its initial cinematic release in the Netherlands this Laurel & Hardy film was banned because the scene where the duo sat on a bed with a woman to whom they weren't married was "indecent". Today the film is not banned.[51]

On 25 March 2010 the Dutch court of Alkmaar has classified several scenes in the movie as child pornography,[52] which is illegal in the Netherlands.[53] The decision therefore means that possession, distribution and knowingly gaining access to the movie is prohibited.[54]

This anime was banned on the grounds that it "tends to promote and support the exploitation of children and young persons for sexual purposes, and to a lesser extent, the use of sexual coercion to compel persons to submit to sexual conduct."[58]

Banned outright by the government on May 25, 2012 due to "objectionable content" (offensive depictions of sexual violence, pedophilia, extreme violence, necrophilia and/or other content that is offensive and abhorrent)[citation needed].

Banned from theatrical and home video release; the OFLC felt that "the tacit invitation to enjoy cruel and violent behavior through its first-person portrayal and packaging as entertainment is likely to lead to an erosion of empathy for some viewers".[64]

2013

The Wolf of Wall Street

Kenya

Banned for explicit sexual content, profanity, drug use and nudity.[65]

Banned because the year 2012 coincides with Kim Il Sung's 100th birthday. The year had also been designated "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower."[67] Thus, a movie which depicts the year in a negative light was found to be offensive by the North Korean government. Several people in North Korea were reportedly arrested for possessing or viewing pirated copies of the movie and charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state."[68]

Banned due to high impact violence and cruelty. In January 2009, The Norwegian Media Authority classified the film as "Rejected" and banned the film outright in Norway after the government learned of an incident at the Stockholm Film Festival where two people both vomited and fainted while watching the film. The film remains strictly prohibited in Norway.[28]

Originally, this film was banned without being given a reason.[72] Later, it was given a reason. It was deemed "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture": "In the movie itself it is trying to promote the human rights of gays. Some of the scenes are very inappropriate in regard to some of the sex in the film itself, it's very contrary to the way of life here in Samoa[according to whom?]."[73] (see Censorship in Samoa for details)

Banned for over 30 years, before an attempt at release was made in 2006. However, the submission for a M18 rating was rejected, and the ban was not lifted.[28]The ban was later lifted, with film was shown uncut with an R21 rating on 28 October 2011, as part of the Perspectives Film Festival.[75]

Banned for an imbalance depiction of Islam as being intolerant. The interviewees also tried to use religion to justify their homosexuality.[82]

2008

David the Tolhidan

Singapore

Banned for its "sympathetic portrayal of an organisation viewed as a terrorist organisation by many countries."[82]

2008

Arabs and Terrorism

Singapore

Banned for its "sympathetic portrayal of an organisation viewed as a terrorist organisation by many countries."[82]

2008

Bakushi

Singapore

Banned for its "several prolonged and explicit sado-masochistic sequences, demonstrating how the rope masters tied up nude women and subjected them to various degrees of physical abuse and sexual degradation, for the erotic gratification of their audience."[82]

Porn Masala, the second story in Ken Kwek's compendium of three short films, was deemed "racially offensive and demeaning to Indians" by the Board of Film Censors.[85] The ban was subsequently lifted and the film's Singapore version released with edits in March 2013.[86] However, the film had not completed its Singapore theatrical run when it was banned by the Malaysian Board of Film Censors, who found it "obscene" and "insulting to local cultures".[87] The film was also withdrawn from the Asean International Film Festival & Awards, where it was due to be screened from Mar 28-30, 2013.[88]

2014

To Singapore, With Love

Singapore

Banned because it allegedly undermined national security as "the individuals in the film have given distorted and untruthful accounts of how they came to leave Singapore and remain outside Singapore," and that "a number of these self-professed 'exiles' were members of, or had provided support to, the proscribed Communist Party of Malaya."[citation needed]

The movie was banned due to high level violence and blood and gore. The movie also depicts the suffering and the agony of people who were forced to eat human flesh in Kharkiv during the German attack there in 1943.[109]

The movie contains scenes of brutal gory violence and torture. In the context of "Saw" franchise this is the only part that is banned. Thereby it is illegal to sell it or distribute, since visa is not given.[112]

Banned because of its "objectionable content"; it did not receive a clearance certificate from the UAE Censors Board and was pulled from all UAE cinemas. This is the first Bollywood film to be banned in the UAE.[114]

2006: Death Note, banned because people were making their own death notes and writing people's names down to imitate the show, which was deemed harmful, and was thought to incite anarchy and insubordination.[citation needed]

2009: Avatar: 2D versions were banned on January 23 because it was thought that its themes may lead audiences to think about forced removal, and may possibly incite violence. (The unedited DVD release is widely available in stores in China. Walmart stores in China use the films visuals to display television sets)[citation needed]

1984: Red Dawn Banned due to a possibility to decrease diplomatic status between USSR and Finland. Was released in 1991 when Soviet Union disbanded.[citation needed]

1992: Reservoir Dogs (Uncut). The uncut version of Quentin Tarantino's film for VHS release banned, due to the new restriction law to video releases. The movie wasn't really "banned" but was withdrawn from stores until 2001.[citation needed]

2011: A Serbian Film was banned because of high impact sexual violence and gore. Stores like Citymarket and Anttila decided to confiscate all copies of the film in order to avoid law issues.[citation needed]

Paths of Glory was never banned but was not distributed by United Artists, which feared reactions and boycotts from army supporters. The film saw its first French release in 1975, to public acclaim.[citation needed]

1930–1931, 1933–1945: All Quiet on the Western Front, was banned in 1930 after protests but then re-admitted in a heavily censored version in 1931 after a long and emotional public debate.[137] After 1933, it was banned by the Nazi regime for its anti-militaristic themes.[138]Erich Maria Remarque's novel was also banned as well, and was among the "anti-German" books burned in bonfires.[139] At the Capitol Theatre in West Germany in 1952, the film saw its first release in 22 years.

1940: The Nazi government issued a ban on all films distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after the release of the film The Mortal Storm, which attacked the Nazis belief in racial superiority by the frequent use of the term "non-Aryan." The film was released in West Germany in 1957.[citation needed]

1940–1945: The Great Dictator, was first shown in West Germany as late as 1958. During World War II, it was once shown to German soldiers in 1942: In German-occupied Yugoslavia, local guerillas sneaked a copy from Greece into an army-cinema in an act of cultural sabotage. After half of the film had been shown, German officers stopped the screening and threatened to shoot the Yugoslavian projectionist. Apparently, the film was ordered by the Reich Chancellery.[140]

1945-: The Eternal Jew - Since it was made during Nazi Germany, it is exclusively allowed for use in college classrooms and other academic purposes; however, exhibitors must have formal education in "media science and the history of the Holocaust." Public use is prohibited as of 2013.[141]

1945-: Jud Süß - Pulled from German exhibition by decree of the Allied Military Occupation.[142] Director Veit Harlan was required by court order to destroy what was then believed to be the only remaining negative of Jud Süß and he reportedly did this in April 1954. A few years later, however, copies of the film began to turn up to the embarrassment of the West German government. After a lengthy investigation, it was determined that another negative existed in East Germany and it was used it to make prints that were dubbed in Arabic and distributed in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Lebanon. Though that negative has never been located, it has been widely suspected that this version was produced and distributed by the Stasi or the KGB in order to arouse anti-semitism among Egyptian and Palestinians against the US backed Israel (and henceforth, support for the Soviet backed Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser).[143][144][145] The copyright of the film is held by the F.W. Murnau Foundation which is owned by the German government. The Foundation only permits screenings of the film when accompanied by an introduction explaining the historical context and the intended impact.[146]

Ichi the Killer - The uncut version is currently banned for very high impact violence and cruelty. It was released in a heavily censored version.[citation needed]

1988-: Zindan "Prison" (1974 film) - Banned in Germany at 1988-01-21 and 1988-08-10. Although, currently ban is not in effect, Zindan, directed by Remzi Jonturk, remains to be the only Turkish movie title ever been banned in Germany due to gore, violence and cruelty it contains.[147]

1956: The King and I This movie was shown in (Tehran), IRAN many times, the first time in "RadioCity" Cinema in 1958. Radio city Cinema, located on Pahlavi Ave., was one of the most famous movie theatres in Tehran before the 1979 revolution and is now closed .[citation needed]

1968: Oliver! This movie was shown in "Diamond" Cinema in Tehran in 70 mm and 6 track stereo sound in its first screening for 12 weeks in 1969 (a huge success for an American musical at the time) and later was shown several more times in second-run theatres.[citation needed]

1955: Half Human - The Toho production directed by Ishirō Honda, was put under a self-imposed ban by Toho after it was feared that the film would be seen as a degrading portrayal of Japan's Ainu minority. The film was never released on laserdisc or DVD, even though there were several home video releases and to this day the only way to see it is through its heavily edited US version, or through a grey market copy of the uncut version with the time code at the top of the screen.[citation needed]

1958: Varan the Unbelievable, put under a self-imposed studio ban by Toho for similar reasons as Half Human '​s, but was finally released in the 1980s on VHS and laserdisc (with a few lines of reportedly racist dialogue removed from the film).[citation needed]

1969: Horrors of Malformed Men - The Teruo Ishii's exploitation flick was put under a studio ban by Toei, due to the film's offensive elements. With the film unavailable in any format in Japan, the only way to see it is through the occasional screening and the 2007 USA DVD release.[citation needed]

1974: Prophecies of Nostradamus - Toho placed another one of its films, an apocalyptic disaster film, under a ban, after a group of hibakusha (nuclear radiation survivors) saw the film and were offended by sequences showing a research party being attacked by radioactive cannibals and a pair of horribly deformed post-apocalyptic mutants fighting over a worm. After airing the film uncut on television in 1980, Toho withdrew the film from circulation entirely. It attempted to release the film on VHS in the late 1980s but was stopped due to protests. The only way to see the film is through the film's US version.The Last Days of Planet Earth, or through a grey market copy of the uncut version.[citation needed]

Pakistan banned films from India in 1962, with restrictions tightened in 1979 when Muhammad Zia ul-Haq implemented an Islamization agenda and an even stricter censorship code.[152] A ban on Indian films and media (which was not always strictly enforced) was lifted in 2006, with the compromise that cinemas in Pakistan must equally share screening time between Indian and Pakistani films.[153][154]

1997: Witajcie w życiu (Welcome to the Life), a documentary film by Henryk Dederko about Amway in Poland, was banned after the Polish office of the Amway Corporation obtained an injunction against the film; they claimed it was libelous.[citation needed]

2014: To Singapore, With Love, banned because it allegedly undermined national security as "the individuals in the film have given distorted and untruthful accounts of how they came to leave Singapore and remain outside Singapore,"[citation needed] and that "a number of these self-professed 'exiles' were members of, or had provided support to, the proscribed Communist Party of Malaya."[citation needed]

1984: Cannibal Holocaust, was seized by customs (specific year is unknown at this time). It was given an XX rating, which prevented it from being sold in the country. It is now rated 18 for a cut version (the uncut version is still banned).[citation needed]

1984–1999: Cannibal Holocaust, banned for high impact violence and animal cruelty. A censored version has since been classified "15". However, bootleg copies for the uncut version are available and since the beginning of the 2000s it has been legal uncut in Sweden.[citation needed]

2012: ‘’The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’’: Banned because its international distributor, Sony Pictures, did not accept the requirement by the Vietnamese National Film Board of cutting out some sensitive scenes.[168]

1978: Dawn of the Dead Banned due to explicit and strong gory violence involving humans and zombies. Cut versions for FSK 16 and 18 versions were made, erasing most of the violent scenes.[citation needed]